Bizarre Honkai, a Wife-Chasing Crematorium

In response, Li Mo just wanted to quote a certain unnamed great man named Lu: "Some are already old, but he is still young; some are still young, but he is already old."

With the children taking care of their own duties, Li Mo had a lot of time on his hands.

"I'll check the manor first. There might be some problems on the fourth floor. I can't go there again without full preparation."

Li Mo knew very well what he had to do. His current condition was too poor. It was difficult to deal effectively with unknown ghosts. In addition, with the loss of his Bizarre abilities, he had no room for error with restarts or the emergency measure of 「Usurp」. Once a rule was triggered, he would be in a fatal situation. So now was not the time to explore the secrets of the fourth floor.

It was known that the four pictures hanging on the wall of the fourth floor were problematic, and the time and space of the fourth floor seemed to be constantly refreshing. Li Mo couldn't be sure, because he only had a vague impression. The scratches left by the wheelchair's movement on the ground had mysteriously disappeared... just like the haunted house, which refreshed its damaged structure.

Li Mo went outside the house, patrolling the other parts of the manor while recalling.

"I always feel that the pictures on the fourth floor are very similar to the ones I encountered on the first three floors of the haunted house. I can't remember clearly. The memories from more than ten years ago are too blurry to be certain."

"But in any case, they are not unrelated. The pictures hanging on the walls of the first three floors of the haunted house are the original body of the bloody newspaper. Today, I found the original form of the bloody newspaper on the fourth floor before it transformed into a Bizarre item."

"Ghosts cannot hide themselves by ignoring the rules. When I questioned the bloody newspaper, it didn't give an answer, so it hadn't become a Bizarre item yet."

"But..."

Li Mo stopped moving and looked back at the brightly lit house. It was sparkling, and a fragrant smell wafted over.

Li Mo had seen the pictures three times. The first time was when he casually glanced at them before going to the bookshelf on the fourth floor. He didn't feel anything strange at that time. The pictures were all normal.

The second time was after the dust choked his nose and he coughed up blood, and after he tentatively questioned the bloody newspaper. The pictures on the wall became bizarre, flickering. Although they depicted the haunted house, it felt like countless human figures were hiding inside. He used his phone's flashlight but saw nothing.

The third time was when he put the bloody newspaper back in its original place on the bookshelf. The pictures on the wall became very strange, and it was the time his heart pounded the most. Li Mo remembered very clearly that he saw the gate of the haunted house in the picture open, and a thin figure walked out from inside, standing in the picture and looking at him. Because it was a dark shadow, he couldn't identify who the person in the picture was.

This was what Li Mo found strange. The pictures were the original body of the bloody newspaper. If the pictures revived, it meant that the newspaper had also become a bloody newspaper, a Bizarre item. But the bloody newspaper did not answer his question. The two were contradictory, making it impossible for Li Mo to judge.

There was no doubt that the fourth floor had definitely changed. The reason was self-evident. Seele Vollerei. But Li Mo couldn't figure out what Seele had done, or what had happened to her, to cause the changes on the fourth floor.

"My head hurts, I can't figure it out."

"It would be great if the notebook were still here. At least I wouldn't be running around like a headless fly."

"Even if there's a trap, I'm the one who has to jump into it."

The notebook would give key hints. After getting a clue, he would most likely follow this clue to investigate the truth. If he didn't want to be trapped by the notebook, he could just ignore it, as if he had never asked.

After a tour, the manor was as it was. Li Mo did not find anything Bizarre.

Back in the house, dinner was ready. The family was divided into several tables. Because Li Mo was from Shenzhou, the dining etiquette of the orphanage was also biased towards Shenzhou.

At the dinner table, Li Mo did not deliberately observe Seele's expression. He looked at everyone one by one, and the time he looked at Seele was not much longer than the other children. This way, it looked more like he was caring for every child, rather than deliberately observing Seele.

Seele was quite quiet. The children would occasionally joke and chat about interesting topics while eating. Even Bronya chimed in a few times, but Seele always maintained that fake smile, not saying a word, like an autistic girl.

What was she hiding? Li Mo was very curious, but he couldn't show it. If he showed that he cared about her, Seele would become vigilant and hide even more perfectly. As long as he kept playing dumb, Seele would eventually show a flaw.

After dinner, Li Mo returned to the fifth floor. The elevator was in the ninth room at the end of the corridor. He could return to his bedroom as soon as he got out of the elevator. Li Mo looked at the fairy tale book on the table, sighed, and then took out his phone.

Li Mo skillfully opened the chat with Shigure Kira and sent a word and a punctuation mark: "Here?"

About two minutes later, Shigure Kira replied, "Here."

Li Mo: "What are you doing?"

Shigure Kira: "Fighting Honkai beasts."

Li Mo: "?? Then why are you replying to me? It's too dangerous."

Shigure Kira: "It's okay, it's already solved."

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Shigure Kira sent a picture. Li Mo opened it and saw several Honkai Emperor-class beasts lying on the ground, having lost their purple glow that symbolized Honkai Energy.

Shigure Kira: "I'm about to get on the car to the next destination. There are twelve more commissions. I'll go home after I deal with these Honkai incidents."

Li Mo: "Be careful, and don't jinx it."

Shigure Kira: "Don't worry. Although I'm not as good as you at dealing with paranormal incidents, when it comes to exterminating Honkai beasts, I'm the industry benchmark."

"Oh, and also, Captain Cecilia said she wants to see me hold a concert. Only then will the Overseer allow her to temporarily leave Schicksal HQ. But she still can't reveal her identity."

Allow? Concert?

Li Mo covered his face. He probably knew the reason. That old bastard Otto probably wanted to cause trouble again, so he wanted to see him to get some information about the future.

If Shigure Kira held a concert, he would definitely be there. So Otto threw out a pretext, saying that if Shigure Kira held a concert, Cecilia could temporarily get her freedom. Cecilia herself probably wanted to go out and play. Staying at Schicksal HQ for a long time could easily become boring and disconnected from society.

This was unavoidable for the Valkyries at the headquarters. The Valkyries at Schicksal HQ were all very busy. Shigure Kira, on one hand, was thinking of Cecilia, and on the other hand, she could make a lot of money from her fans through the concert. It was a win-win situation, so holding a concert was a sure thing.

Seeing him once was not a problem. If he didn't go, Otto would probably come to him. It was better not to let the children of the orphanage enter Otto's sight.

Li Mo: "It's possible, but... can you sing?"

Shigure Kira's sad song, Li Mo would rank it behind MEI's dark cuisine. It was not an exaggeration to say it was like a ghost's cry. What was the value of a song where every lyric was out of tune? A few dozen words could be sung in a dozen different tones...

Shigure Kira: "Ugh, I'm being questioned. I probably won't hold a concert in the short term. I'm still very self-aware."

"The songs I uploaded online before were all auto-tuned. I can't auto-tune live, and lip-syncing is not my style."

"So I'm practicing singing every day now. I'll hold a concert when I'm good enough."

Li Mo breathed a sigh of relief. That was good. Li Mo was not worried about Otto, but about whether Kira Star's reputation would be tarnished.

Li Mo: "I'll definitely be there then."

Shigure Kira: "Hee hee, of course I know. I'll save the best seat at Kira Star's concert for you~~"

Just as the two were about to enter their daily sweet and loving session, chatting about some cheesy content, a knock came on the door. Li Mo glanced at the time on his phone. It was 10:20 PM. Li Mo had set the children's bedtime at 10 PM. The children should all be asleep by now. So who was it?

Li Mo turned off his phone, put it back in his bag, and coughed twice.

"Ahem... come in."

Li Mo sat in his wheelchair, facing the door.

"Creak—"

The door was gently pushed open, creaking. Seele stood at the door, her eyes seeming to hide a trace of sorrow. After a few seconds of hesitation, she walked into Li Mo's bedroom. She was wearing pajamas, but her small, jade-like feet were bare, and she made no sound as she walked on the floor.

Li Mo smiled naturally and asked, "Why are you still up so late? Is there something you need?"

"..." Seele pursed her lips and walked up to Li Mo. Her ears drooped, and she kept looking at the floor, not daring to look directly at Li Mo. Her pink lips moved several times, but she didn't say a word.

"Sit on the bed first. The floor is cold, and you'll easily catch a cold without shoes." Li Mo was very patient and acted very kind.

Bronya was not by her side, so she was probably asleep. Seele came to him in the middle of the night without Bronya's knowledge. There must be something she couldn't let Bronya know. But if Bronya couldn't know, why would Seele think he could know?

Did Seele think that he, whom she had only known for a day, was closer than her sister Bronya, with whom she had grown up? Although his performance was indeed that of a gentle, neighborly older brother.

"Brother, can I sit on your lap?"

Seele took a deep breath, looked up, and mustered up her courage. As if she were stepping onto a battlefield, she made a very strange request with a serious and solemn expression. This form of address seemed a bit too familiar.

"Of course you can." Li Mo was stunned for two seconds...then he patted his thigh, not thinking the request was excessive. The children at the orphanage usually called him Brother Li Mo, so he was a little taken aback when Seele called him "Brother."

"Okay!"

Seele gently sat on Li Mo's lap, her small, bare feet dangling and swaying slightly in the air.

"Brother, can I read this book?" Seele pointed to the fairy tale book on the table and asked cautiously.

Li Mo answered without a second thought, "No problem."

The reason was simple. Since he speculated that Seele and Kanagawa Yume were very likely the same person, then Seele reading a book she herself had authored would surely elicit a different expression. Compared to the mysterious and dangerous ghost on the fourth floor, the living, breathing Seele in front of him was more worthy of investigation, and there was no risk to his life.

Seele picked up the fairy tale book, flipped to the title page, and looked at the name with hesitation. "Brother, I can't read this."

Li Mo quickly questioned her, "Seele, you don't recognize Chinese characters?"

Seele nodded and replied naturally, "No, Mama Cocolia never taught me."

"..."

Li Mo observed Seele's every move, feeling that it wasn't an act.

"I see. Then I'll read it to you. But Seele, are you sure you want to hear it? This book tells a very cruel story."

"Then has Brother read it?" Seele asked in return.

Li Mo didn't lie. "Yes, I've read it many times."

In order to get clues about the source of the Bizarre from the story, Li Mo had pored over the dark fairy tale, carefully weighing and scrutinizing every sentence.

"Since the story is so cruel, why did Brother read it over... and over again? Wouldn't it be better to read better, less tragic stories? That way, Brother wouldn't be sad because of the cruel story..."

Li Mo let out a long sigh and patted Seele's head. Seele obediently adjusted her posture, allowing Li Mo to stroke her at a more comfortable angle.

Li Mo felt quite emotional. Girl, you have a hidden meaning in your words. Promise me, don't be a riddle-maker like that woman, Irene, okay?

Jokes aside, Li Mo didn't say his complaints out loud.

"Well, perhaps it's because the adult world isn't perfect, so looking at those perfect fairy tales feels tiring and childish."

"The story in this book is quite novel. From my perspective, it tells a complete tragedy, and even if the protagonist in the story knows everything, the tragedy still cannot be changed. This book is just such a not-so-good story. But it can bring people a sense of 'tragic comedy'."

"It is a 'painful joy.' By feeling the same pain as the characters in the tragedy and being moved to tears by them, we can truly discover the shining points of humanity in the story—even if they have already passed away."

"It destroys things of beautiful value for people to see, to warn them how to weigh choices in reality, to constantly explore in regret and remorse, and to find the 'option' that suits them best, even if it brings regret, even if it leaves behind irreparable remorse."

Li Mo smiled. These were not intentionally said to Seele. He was just a little lonely and wanted to pour out his thoughts. Li Mo knew very well that he had changed a lot. He would usually keep such things to himself.

"Since you're interested, I'll read it all to you. The story isn't long; it won't take much time."

Li Mo picked up the storybook, skipped the title page, and turned to the first page. Seele could also see the words in the book.

Throughout the long night, Li Mo quickly told the story in the book. However, for the sake of Seele's well-being, Li Mo deliberately omitted some of the bloody and violent words. By the time the story was finished, it was already midnight.

Seele had fallen asleep in his arms, her chest rising and falling slightly. Her small, delicate nose was pink, and her breathing was faint.

"Asleep?"

Li Mo tentatively shook Seele's shoulder, but Seele didn't respond. So this girl couldn't sleep and came to him to be her bedtime storyteller?

Emmm... it was true that some children needed a loved one to tell them stories before bed to feel secure.

Seele's behavior tonight was very normal. Li Mo couldn't see any clues. She was like a weak girl who knew nothing, wanted to know everything, but was afraid of knowing. This kind of timid introversion was very consistent with Li Mo's impression of Seele.

In the original story, when Bronya was being beaten, Seele was so scared that she hid in a box, holding her head and crying silently. A coward...

"Should I let Seele sleep in my room for one night? But where do I sleep..."

Li Mo was stunned. There was only one bed. It was impossible for him and Seele to sleep in the same bed, right? He had a feeling Kira would crawl out from under the bed in the middle of the night, staring at the sleeping him with strange eyes.

Hiss... a bit scary.

"Seele, Seele, wake up."

Li Mo shook Seele a little harder, calling her name repeatedly, until Seele slowly opened her eyes and let out a sweet, kitten-like moan.

"Ngh... Brother? I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I accidentally fell asleep just now. I didn't mean to..."

Seele rubbed her sleepy eyes. Realizing her situation, she instinctively apologized, not daring to look up at Li Mo.

"It's okay. This story is not suitable for a child your age. Don't blame yourself," Li Mo comforted.

"Thank you, Brother. Seele heard that the prince committed suicide and the princess tied herself to a cross in the church and set herself on fire. Is that the end of the story?" Seele asked innocently.

Li Mo shook his head. "That was the first run. The end of the story is the second run. Seele can understand the second run as the story after rebirth, but because of the different choices of the characters, it led to a different ending."

"Then what's the story of the second run?" Seele asked.

Li Mo briefly summarized, "The princess was reborn at the age of twelve, but she didn't wait for the prince to marry her. Instead, she was married off by the king to another country, to the same prince."

"But the prince might have been reborn too. In order to prevent the kingdom from being destroyed, he treated the princess with the worst attitude, until the princess's eighteenth birthday, when she was about to turn into a witch... he drew his sword and killed her."

After hearing Li Mo's narration, Seele fell into silence and thought.

"Brother... why, why is it such a story... The princess didn't do anything wrong, why did she have to turn into a witch..." Seele clenched her small fists and asked with her head down.

Li Mo sighed and placed his hand on Seele's, feeling the slight trembling. "Who knows? Many things can't be explained, and they can't be solved. Fate pushes people off a cliff, and the most people can do is to hold on tightly to the edge of the cliff and not let themselves fall."

"Be good, you don't need to think about these things. It's just a terrible fairy tale, not reality."

Seele weakly "hmm-ed," looked up at Li Mo, and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something. But the next second, she jumped off Li Mo's lap and quickly walked to the door.

"I... I'll go back to my room to sleep now. Thank you for telling me a story tonight, Brother."

With that, Seele hurried away.

Li Mo shouted at the door, "Remember to wear shoes! Don't go barefoot in the future!"

After a long time, a faint reply came from the corridor.

"This girl, she wanted to say something just now, right? Why didn't she say it? Is she worried I'll notice something?"

Li Mo scratched his head in confusion. He thought Seele would ask, "If you were the prince in the second run, how would you treat the princess?" If Seele had really said that, Li Mo could be sure that Seele was definitely not just twelve years old.

For now... it was still unclear. He could only observe more in the future. At least Seele's performance was quite normal.

"I won't think about it anymore. My head is a little dizzy. I've used my brain a little too much these past few days. I have to go to bed early. I still have to send the children to school tomorrow."

Li Mo struggled to climb onto the bed. Suddenly, he picked up his phone with a trembling hand and found 99+ friendly messages from Shigure Kira.

"...I'm screwed!"

His sleepiness disappeared instantly. Li Mo sent several messages in a row to explain.

At the same time, Seele did not return to her room, but went to the fourth floor alone. Unlike Li Mo, who took the elevator to the fourth floor, Seele took the stairs and entered the fourth floor smoothly.

Her bare feet stepped on the dusty floor, but left no footprints. Even her small, snow-white feet were not stained with dust. There was no sleepiness on her face; instead, she had a happy smile.

Seele walked to the bookshelf, took down the fairy tale book with her name on the title page, and opened it with a sweet heart. Although it was all in Chinese characters, Seele read it with great concentration.

"Brother probably didn't notice..."

Seele put the fairy tale book back in its original place. Just as she was about to leave, she was suddenly back in the school during the day. The office was crowded with people: teachers watching the show, curious students watching the excitement, and... an expressionless Li Mo.

"Are you Seele's guardian?"

"Yes."

Li Mo's indifference made Seele's homeroom teacher feel a little strange, but for now, she had to explain the matter clearly. As Seele's teacher, it was necessary to make Seele's guardian understand the trouble she had recently encountered.

"It's like this. Seele is surrounded by a few hooligans outside the school every day after school. What's worse is that they pour drinks on Seele's head."

"Not only after school, but also before school. Seele comes to school soaked every day... It also has a considerable impact on the other students. I hope you can pick Seele up from school. Can you do that?"

The teacher made a fair suggestion. According to her thoughts, Li Mo should be angry. But... all the teacher could see was a calm face. Li Mo didn't even look at Seele to say some comforting words.

A bad premonition...

Li Mo grunted, "It takes two to tango. Why do others only bully her and not others? Think about whether it's her own fault. Don't bother me with such small things. Solve it yourself."

With that, Li Mo turned and left, not caring at all about the strange looks Seele was getting. Students, teachers, all looked at Seele with pitiful eyes. This kind of look, this kind of gaze, was like looking at a poor wretch.

Seele bit her lip, clenched her cuffs, and lowered her head without saying a word.

"Seele... your brother..." the teacher began, then trailed off.

"It's okay... Seele will find a way to solve it herself... it's okay... it's all Seele's fault..."

Her voice broke. Suppressing her sobs, Seele quickly fled the office, away from what felt to her like murderous gazes.

Back in the classroom, the surrounding students covered their mouths and spoke, but this could not hide the whispers from all directions.

"Ring ring ring—" The class bell rang. The teacher came in from outside the door, also looking at Seele in the corner with pitiful eyes. Her hair was still wet, and a little sticky. A drink had been poured on her head. Even though Seele had gone to the bathroom and washed it over and over with cold water, she still couldn't wash it clean.

"Last class, I asked the students in the second to last row to stand up and recite. Now let's start with the first one."

The student in the second to last row by the door stood up first and skillfully recited the content that was required to be recited last class. Then the second, the third...

The students stood up one after another to recite. Some who couldn't remember would be criticized by the teacher and sit down. Some who recited very quickly would be applauded by the students.

Seele sat in the second to last row by the window. After her deskmate finished reciting and sat down, it was her turn. In order not to be looked at with strange eyes, Seele worked hard to do her best in everything she could. Therefore, she had recited the content required by the teacher countless times in her spare time and had long memorized it.

Just as Seele was about to stand up and recite, the teacher said, "Okay, let's start the class now. Please turn your textbooks to page five."

Suddenly, most of the students in the class turned their heads and cast strange glances at Seele. The sound of turning pages did not ring out for a long time. The teacher was trying to avoid embarrassing Seele, but she never thought that for a student, the unfamiliar and cold gazes of her classmates were the most frightening...

Seele just wanted to escape from this world as soon as possible...

During lunch, Seele went to the cafeteria. Li Mo hadn't put much money on her meal card. Seele could only order a bowl of white rice and then keep getting the free miso soup from the cafeteria. The cafeteria was like an execution ground. Every fluorescent light was focused on her.

On the dining tables of her classmates, the trays were full of delicious food: fresh fruits and vegetables, and plump, juicy meat. Only Seele's tray had only a bowl of white rice.

The miso soup was no longer for satisfying her taste buds. For Seele, the miso soup was for filling her stomach. Every time she got up to get a bowl of miso soup, she would attract strange glances from the people around her.

Every minute and every second, the suspicious gazes of others were like will-o'-the-wisps. Seele felt like the princess in the fairy tale who was burned by the fire, going through pain and torment again and again.

Finally, Seele waited until school was over.

She packed her books, put on her schoolbag, and stood at the school gate for a long time. Those hooligans only did one thing every day, as if they had been deliberately arranged—to pour drinks on her head in front of everyone.

Seele bit her lip and endured the great humiliation as she walked out of the campus. As expected, a cold drink slid down from her head. Seele closed her eyes, her expression helpless as she quickly moved forward.

The passers-by chattered, but no one offered a helping hand. Until—

"Brother Li Mo! We're back!" Sin shouted loudly.

Li Mo, sitting in his wheelchair, smiled. The bright, warm light shone on his face. He said in a gentle voice to the children coming home:

"Welcome home, Sin, Bronya..."

Li Mo called out everyone's name one by one. In order not to be found out, Seele tried her best to smile, responding to Li Mo's expectation.

Finally, Li Mo's eyes brightened, and he looked at Seele gently.

"Seele, welcome home."